| Preliminary investigations have found anger toward God to be positively related to various psychological problems, as well as physical, spiritual and religious problems (Exline & Martin, 2005). Until recently, however, the topic of anger toward God has been vastly overlooked by psychologists. Within the psychological literature, interventions specifically targeting negative feelings toward God remain to be explored. The current study tested an intervention based on the biblical psalms of lament (Zornow, 2009). The lament psalm intervention consisted of 20 devotional readings and weekly experiential assignments, delivered electronically over a four-week period. The study was completed by 192 college students at Christian institutions across the United States. The majority of participants, 76%, were female, and 84% of the sample was of European American descent. Overall, participants ascribed a high level of importance to their religious beliefs. Religious affiliation was predominantly Christian.;It was hypothesized that the intervention would result in decreased feelings of anger and complaint toward God, as well as increased intimacy with God over time, as demonstrated by a significant time by experimental condition interaction effect. It was also hypothesized that the intervention would be related to changes in religious coping over time, also tested by an interaction effect. Furthermore, it was believed that participants who scored high on measures of both communion with God and complaint with God at Time 1 would receive the greatest benefit from the intervention (Beck, 2006). In order to test these hypotheses, participants in the lament psalm intervention were compared with participants in two control groups. Contrary to the hypotheses, repeated measures ANOVAs revealed no significant interaction effects.;Further analysis was conducted in order to examine participants who reported a high level of compliance with the intervention. Maximum compliance with the lament psalm intervention was related to increased ratings on Communion with God, as measured by a subscale of the Attachment to God Inventory, F (2, 101) = 3.71, p < 0.05. No other significant interaction effects were found. Findings suggest that full participation in a lament psalm intervention may result in benefits such as increased feelings of intimacy toward God. |
